ILSI nutrition program

private sector program to assist small-scale food processors in developing countries). Evaluation covered the period 10/87 to 5/89. ILSI/NF has not carried out the project in the way expected by A.I.D., and has not provided management support and leadership to the three organizations. In particular, ILSI/NF has not: organized professional conferences, published scientific and technical materials, arranged consultative services, maintained correspondence with international organizations (including A.I.D."s Office of Nutrition), or functioned as a referral service. As a result, these tasks were largely performed independently by INACG, IVACG, and Project SUSTAIN. These three groups have the experience, institutional memory, and networks for these functions, whereas ILSI/NF does not. A.I.D. should consider replacing the ILSI/NF cooperative agreement with a contract for logistics support, which is closer to the situation that currently obtains. If it is continued, ILSI/NF"s role and responsibilities should be explicitly defined. The key lesson learned from this project is that different organizations in an unfamiliar and ambiguous managerial relationship may carry out project activities on the basis of their customary procedures. The lack of specificity in the cooperative agreement permitted precisely this situation to develop.